United States presidential election, 1980

The United States presidential election, 1980 was held on 4 November 1980. The incumbent Democratic President of the United States Jimmy Carter and his running mate Walter Mondale ran for re-election against the Republican Party candidate Ronald Reagan and his running mate George H.W. Bush; John B. Anderson ran as an independent candidate, with Patrick Lucey serving as his running mate. The Iran hostage crisis and a worsening economy marked by high unemployment and inflation led to Reagan winning the election in a landslide; Reagan pledged to uplift the mood of the nation from the pessimism of the 1970s. In the simultaneous elections, Republicans won control of the US Congress for the first time since 1955.